Alternative Storytelling in the Marketplace
Our identity and convictions are nurtured by the stories we have been told, and chosen to believe in. A random conversation with colleagues on integrity, excellence, wealth, money, ethical practices, and success is a display of the stories we carry. Because of the numerous negative stories we encounter, we are under great danger of believing the dangerous single story that one has to be corrupt to succeed.
Today, in Kenya, to publicly identify as a Christian, declare one’s faith or convictions, let alone talk about excellence and work ethics, is an invitation to be mistrusted and ridiculed. Yet we continue to soldier on because there is truly an alternative, and we must not give up.
I do acknowledge that as Christians we have brought this on ourselves. We have actively decided to substitute the never-changing biblical standard for the transient worldly standards.
If (we) Christians decided to faithfully live out biblical principles in the marketplace (work places), we would have more solutions to the many problems buffeting us. The trouble is that many of the solutions offered clone the problems and even generate other problems. Note, I say more solutions and not fewer problems, because Jesus did acknowledge that in this world we are going to have trouble (John 16:33).
A key principle of understanding the marketplace is to understand we are all called to purposely play an active role. This might help address a popular misconception that the marketplace is for a select few who have been ordained. The second principle is to understand that we do not have a division between the secular and spiritual worlds. It is one world! This compartmentalized thinking causes some to view spiritual business as limited to Sundays only, and the occasional two to three hours for the weekly Bible study or congregational prayer meetings. The rest of the time is time for secular work-related activities, which are unrelated to what happens on the spiritual days. This stops many from seeing the spiritual dimension in their work.
As I resume blogging, I hope to share weekly thoughts and insights under Marketplace Wisdom. I hope this will help with providing alternative narratives to counter the existing ones.
Photo by subhadipin on Freeimages.com
Martin Mburu
Judge Dogood © is a fictional character created by Martin Mburu